Improving Clinical Processes for Tobacco Cessation in Primary Care

Purpose: Tobacco cessation should be a focus of primary care providers (PCPs); however, not all facilities have a process for screening and intervening tobacco use. This doctor of nursing practice (DNP) project evaluated a federally qualified health center’s tobacco cessation screening process to determine the gaps and barriers to tobacco cessation. This is one of three coinciding projects in an interprofessional evaluation and focused on the primary care department. Background: Research has demonstrated that evidence-based tools are successful in facilitating tobacco cessation. Primary care is a prime place to provide this support and intervention, because most individuals only ever see a PCP in their lifetime. However, screening and counseling in this setting is often missed in this area. Methods: The data collected for this project was through a survey of the facility’s PCPs (N=2), which asked questions about the providers demographics, current tobacco cessation screening and interventions at the facility, and perceived barriers to interventions. The information collected was evaluated through descriptive statistics. Results: The results demonstrated inconsistencies in the tobacco use screening process and cessation interventions among providers at the facility. Both participants found that delivering a tobacco cessation intervention is a part of their role as healthcare providers; however, only one of these providers had received training in helping patients with tobacco cessation at the facility. Conclusions: This project’s key findings were the lack of consistency among providers when screening patients for tobacco use and providing proper tobacco cessation interventions. The lack of screening and interventions demonstrates a need to develop a program for the providers to utilize to ensure tobacco cessation adherence